Kanye West's Album, The College Drop-Out

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Kanye West – better known as Yeezus – is an icon in the entertainment industry, best known for his outrageous outbursts and his “Messiah complex”. West identifies himself as a Roman Catholic, frequently making reference to this in many of his songs. In his debut album, The College Drop-Out, Kanye’s 3rd single, “Jesus Walks” portrayed his Catholic upbringing is in both the song’s lyrics and music video. The song however, was the subject of much controversy. In the video, West attempts to deliver the message of hope and faith to his consumers and states that, if a person has some sort of faith, then the degree at which they have sinned is irrelevant, for there will always be an opportunity to redeem themselves and be forgiven. Religion is a dominant…show more content…
The urban culture represented in his music aims to portray the individualism spread among urban life and attitudes. It also aims to “rejects Eurocentric culture and seeks to increase a social consciousness along with a racial/ethnic pride” (White Hodge, 2013) Christina Zanfagna says, “Mainstream hip-hop percolates with unlikely and multifaceted religious inclinations. Despite its inconsistent relationship to organized religion and its infamous mug of weed smoking, drug pushing, gun slinging, and curse spewing, rap music is not without moral or spiritual content…religious messages have always been delivered through a vast array of sounds” – which is clearly evident through songs like Jesus Walks and No Church In the Wild by Kanye West (Zanfagno, 2006). In the article, “Theomusicology and Christian Education: Spirituality and The Ethics of Control in the Rap of MC Hammer,” N. Lynne Westfield and Harold Dean Trulear state: “Theomusicology treats black music in a holistic manner and secularity as a context for the sacred and profane rather than as the antithesis of the sacred…As such, theomusicology is a tool for us to move beyond the simplistic notions of “good” and “bad” that are uncritically used to characterize black secular music and especially rap music, and to help us develop an understanding of the meaning system under construction by African American youths.” (Trular & Westfield,
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    Kanye West was born on June 8, 1977 to Ray and Donda West in Atlanta. Ray West was a photojournalist, counselor, and ex-member of the Black Panthers. Donda West was an English professor at Chicago State University. When he was three years old his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Chicago where he attended school, and lived in Atlanta with his father in the summer. At the age of five he began writing poetry, and began rapping in third grade thanks to the influences of the city. He continued

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